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David Einhorn Has Apple Right Where He Wants It

Written by: Rocco Pendola03/01/13 - 1:30 PM EST

Tickers in this article:
AAPL

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Ho-hum news breaks in the David Einhorn versus Apple (AAPL) leave it on the ice tussle and you have a choice: Say "Ho Hum" and move along or consider the backstory of rhetorical positioning taking place publicly and most likely behind the scenes.

I choose the latter. Not only is that approach more fun, it's intellectually stimulating and, in the grand scheme of all things Apple, it's what matters.

First, I call it a leave it on the ice tussle because I view CEO Tim Cook, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, the Apple Board, David Einhorn and his firm the way I view hockey players. They generally leave it all on the ice . Take some shots. Call some names ("silly" sideshow). Make strategic moves. But, ultimately, there's nothing that will stop the players from drinking beer together at any point during this battle.

These "two sides" (as much as I despise dichotomy) do not hate one another. In fact, they ultimately have common goals. But they're still somewhat at odds. That's a big part of why this is all so fascinating.

Einhorn absolutely has Apple where he wants it or, at least, where he needs it to be.

Einhorn should take the opportunity of being in the headlines again with the formality of dropping the lawsuit to gently turn the screws on Tim Cook. When Tim Cook talks, Apple's stock goes down . He's on the verge of becoming a liability for the company, if he isn't already. So, piggyback the ho-hum headline with powerful rhetoric (and, again, I use "rhetoric" in the academic sense of the word, not the political sphere where well-done rhetoric died with RFK).

Einhorn needs to maintain control of the narrative. That's what Steve Jobs would have done. It's something Tim Cook does not appear capable of doing.

Riffing here ... like I am Einhorn (except a Yankees fan) ...

Apple and Greenlight have the same goals. A great long-term future for the company and more incredible innovation. At Greenlight, we're confident in Apple's continue success. However, Apple must act by taking care of its shareholders and instituting better capital allocation practices. iPrefs is one way to go about it, but as a large Apple shareholder, we're open to a variety of ideas .

Using language that says How in the world can Apple be against what we're proposing here, in any way, unless they're just completely out of touch? will help seal the deal for Einhorn.